


Full Circle

by Cyberra



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 13:46:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberra/pseuds/Cyberra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The departure of an old warrior from Cybertron and from active combat leads to a few revelations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full Circle

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [There's Always Someone Stronger](https://archiveofourown.org/works/597839) by [FlybyStardancer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlybyStardancer/pseuds/FlybyStardancer), [gatekat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatekat/pseuds/gatekat). 



Ultra Magnus made his way through the Autobot base in Iacon, the proverbial black cloud hovering over his helm. He was not in a very good mood at all. The oldest and one of the best warriors in the Autobot ranks had decided to retire and leave the war, taking with him his younger sharpshooter mate. It was something no one was very happy about. Titanium was one of the oldest Cybertronians still functioning, with a long existence's worth of battlefield experience. Half the Decepticon ranks were terrified of the old mech. His leaving the war would rob the Autobots of an important advantage.

Noticing activity around Titanium's admittedly rarely-used quarters on base, Magnus detoured to investigate. Stopping in the doorway, he watched the bigger mech in question and his gold-plated mate carefully packing the various odds and ends kept there, souvenirs of a long and well-traveled existence. As each item was lifted from its place and carefully wrapped for a long journey, the pair examined each, idly speculating on whether or not various mecha would like it. Most of the designations mentioned were unfamiliar to the eavesdropper. Who was "Wing" and how had the old silver and purple mech met him or her?

Magnus' train of thought abruptly derailed at the sound of a very familiar designation. "Dai Atlas?" he cut in, making GoldenRod jump in surprise but getting no reaction from Titanium. No surprise there; sneaking up on the ancient mech was difficult at the best of times. Few mecha outside of Special Ops managed it.

Dai Atlas. That was a designation Ultra Magnus knew very well. Millennia ago, before the war, he had been sentenced to reform slavery under the blue and white triple changer as punishment for mauling several members of his old unit to within an inch of their lives. It had been an interesting experience. The older mech had done his very best to make Magnus, then known as Saltem, into a proper officer, though Magnus had been released before his training had finished. Then Dai Atlas and his mate, Axe, had left, being declared traitors and deserters by Nova Prime. It had been a very long time since Magnus had heard his designation.

"Magnus," Titanium greeted calmly but warily, finally looking up from his packing. Level, neutral ruby optics met Magnus' blue. "If you're here to try and change my mind again, it won't work any better than the last time you tried."

The younger mech took another step into the room, ignoring GoldenRod completely. "You know where Dai Atlas is?" he demanded instead, one hand clenching.

Titanium regarded him in silence for a long klik. "Only Primus knows where he is now. I have heard nothing since the war began."

"But you knew," Magnus pressed, pouncing on the use of "now". "After he went AWOL. You knew where he was, didn't you."

"He did not tell me where he was going, and I did not ask," the older mech answered tartly. "What I did not know I could not be coerced into giving up."

Magnus was silent for a moment, considering that. Then blue optics narrowed slightly. "You said you haven't heard anything since the war began. But he contacted you again before the war?"

This time the old warrior snorted. "We were never out of contact. Private comms, civilian communication lines, codes that only he and I knew."

That revelation left the younger mech staring at the elder for a couple of kliks. "He was still in contact with you and you never told anyone?!"

"Why would I have?" Red optics narrowed right back at him. Long wings hiked up into an aggressive stance. "Nova Prime was dead-set on executing him for desertion. I trusted no one not to betray him to Nova should anyone else find out. He trusted me to keep his secrets. I spent nearly half my existence looking out for him in one way or another; why should I have stopped just because he was no longer in the military? After Dai and Axe left, Nova Prime summoned me and asked if I knew anything, since I had been Dai's mentor and was still one of his closest companions. I looked Nova right in the optic, and I lied to his face. To protect Dai."

"But that was treason!"

Red optics narrowed to glowing ruby slits. "Some bonds run deeper than factional loyalties or military rules. I don't expect you to understand."

The younger mech rocked back on his heelplates, stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. But it did make an odd kind of sense. He remembered what he had learned of Titanium and Dai Atlas during his time in the military, as a slave under the former General. It had been no secret that the older purple and silver mech had been Dai Atlas' teacher and mentor, but from what Magnus/Saltem had heard, it had been a closer relationship than that. Some careful prodding of his first lover, Fortis Bronte, had revealed that Titanium was also Dai Atlas' occasional lover and closest confidant, aside from Axe. On one occasion Magnus/Saltem had walked into the General's quarters and found Titanium sitting on the berth, his back against the wall and Dai Atlas deep in recharge next to him, leaning against a purple shoulder. The older of the pair had been humming softly, low in his throat, lightly stroking the blue helm leaning against his own. Titanium had not looked up, but Magnus had known the old mech was fully aware of his presence, and the younger mech had been fully aware that he had been judged and dismissed as a threat within a few nanokliks of the door actually opening. It had occurred to the much younger mech that the relationship between the two elders also included some elements of a creator-creation bond, without the actual bond itself.

"Family," the younger mech mused absently.

Surprise crossed Titanium's face, though it seemed to be more that Magnus had actually figured it out rather than a response to the word itself. "Yes. Family. And in my processor the ties of family trumps everything else. What mattered to me was that he was free of Nova's insanity. Everything else was irrelevant."

Magnus shook himself. "One thing I don't understand. Sentinel Prime pardoned Dai Atlas and Axe, took the bounties off their helms. Why didn't you say anything then? So many of us who served under them would have liked to see them again. Why say nothing then, or when everything changed after Optimus became Prime?"

Purple-and-gold-marked wings flicked in a shrug. "I had no reason to tell. Dai Atlas and Axe had made a new life for themselves, far from the military. They had no intention of returning and wanted to stay off the grid. I respected that."

There was a moment of silence as Magnus processed that. "That's where you're going, isn't it. To find him."

Titanium eyed Magnus for a long moment, his body language giving nothing away. There was a breem of silence before the ancient triple changer finally responded. "Yes. I promised him that I would. And I always keep my word." He packed the last of his possessions away, giving the rooms a quick once-over to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Subspacing the packing crate, he flared long wings and made his way past Magnus, GoldenRod following.

For a moment Magnus stood firm. Then he moved aside, watching the larger mech step out into the corridor. "Titanium."

Long wings raked higher. The old mech looked back over his shoulder, red optics narrowed in suspicion.

Magnus met that red glare neutrally. "When you find the General, wherever he is now, tell him I said 'hi'."

Titanium blinked. That had not been what he was expecting. "I will." He waited a moment in case Magnus had something else to say, then turned away, reaching for GoldenRod's hand and twining their fingers together. The pair walked down the corridor toward the base exit and the spaceport, not looking back.

Ultra Magnus just stood there and watched them go.

**Author's Note:**

> This short fic ties into "There's Always Someone Stronger", written by Gatekat and Flybystardancer. It takes place in the far future of that story, but refers to events and characters from that story.
> 
> Meh title is meh... But I couldn't think of anything else.


End file.
